Samsung Electronics to hold Unpacked event in Seoul

Samsung Electronics is taking an unconventional turn with the debut of its latest foldables taking place in Seoul.

A visitor takes a look at Samsung Electronics' Galaxy Z Fold 4 at the Unpacked event held in New York in August, 2022. [YONHAP]

Samsung Electronics is taking an unconventional turn with the debut of its latest foldables taking place in Seoul.

The tech giant will hold the Unpacked event for the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Galaxy Z Fold 5 in Korea instead of overseas and move up the schedule by about two weeks earlier than usual, as it attempts to solidify its market dominance in the burgeoning market.

Lee Young-hee, president and head of Samsung Electronics' Global Marketing Office for Device eXperience (DX) division [JOONGANG PHOTO]

Lee Young-hee, president and head of the tech giant's Global Marketing Office for Device eXperience (DX) division on Thursday said "the [Korean market] is meaningful" when asked why the company decided to hold the global unveiling event in Seoul this year.

Local media outlets said the event will be held on July 26 at Coex located in southern Seoul, although Samsung didn't confirm the news.

Samsung had always held its biannual Unpacked event overseas, with the second event usually taking place in August.

Earlier this year, it unveiled three of its flagship models — Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23 Plus and Galaxy S23 Ultra — in San Francisco. Before that, it debuted its foldable devices — the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4 — at the Unpacked event held in New York in August.

The upcoming unveiling event is seen as a strategic move for Samsung to strengthen its leading position in the foldable smartphone market as the segment is expected to see some serious competitors like Google and Apple anytime soon.

Google unveiled its first foldable smartphone, the Pixel Fold, last month while Chinese players like Oppo and Huawei have already followed in the footstep of Samsung in launching foldable gadgets.

Until now, Samsung Electronics has been the dominant player in the market, enjoying the early mover advantage. It launched its first foldable phone, the Galaxy Fold, in 2019.

The Korean company's foldable phones accounted for 45 percent of the global foldable phone market in the first quarter of this year, maintaining its top spot, according to market tracker DSCC.

BY JIN EUN-SOO [jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr]